


Breathe

by CelticKnot



Series: Mass Effect Fictober 2019 [26]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types
Genre: Collector base, Fictober 2019, Gen, MEFFictober2019, suicide mission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-04 14:28:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21199169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelticKnot/pseuds/CelticKnot
Summary: MEFFictober prompt: Collector base. Tali is prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to help save the galaxy.





	Breathe

Tali’s suit beeped a temperature warning in her ear as the ventilation shaft closed behind her, and she swore. If she didn’t get out of here soon, her regulatory systems would be overwhelmed, and she’d cook. She swallowed hard.  _ Keelah,  _ it was enough to make even her claustrophobic.

As she raced down the shaft, she glanced through the glass wall, and her heart leapt into her throat. Shepard, Thane, and Garrus had been all but pinned down by a swarm of Collectors, their progress slowed to a crawl as they fought for every inch. Tali could only watch in horror as a drone seized up and began to glow, transforming into a powerful avatar of Harbinger itself. She cried out as its Warp-like attack brought Garrus to his knees, then sighed with relief as Thane’s Incisor punched through its barriers and felled the horrible creature.

She couldn’t help them. All she could do was get to the end of this shaft and get the door into the chamber beyond open. Then she would have to wait and pray they made it.

But she soon found herself up against an obstacle of her own. A bulkhead of some kind blocked the shaft, probably a security measure designed to prevent exactly this kind of incursion. That was probably why it was so hot in here. Well, Shepard had chosen her for this task for a reason, and she set about hacking into its systems as fast as she could.

Her suit’s cooling systems whined in her ears, straining to keep up with the load. An alarm sounded in her ear; she shut it off. The door was proving far more stubborn than she’d expected, and she couldn’t afford any distractions.

No matter what she did, what circuits she shorted, what wires she crossed the door wouldn’t release. “Come on, you stupid  _ bosh’tet,”  _ she growled. Sweat began to drip into her eyes. SHe blinked it away, swallowing back a rising panic.

There was nothing for it. She radioed Shepard to tell her about the blockage--there had to be a release mechanism somewhere in the chamber outside. In moments, Shepard found the control, and hit it as she raced past. The bulkhead slid open, the temperature began to stabilize, and Tali dashed forward.

Before long, she came up against another blockage. She called to Shepard again, struggling to keep her voice calm. The temperature started to rise again as the ground team fought their way forward to the next control panel.

Again and again and again, the same thing. Run forward, hit a wall, wait for Shepard to release it. She could hear the team over the radio as they fought: Shepard snapping orders, Garrus exulting over his kills, Thane muttering prayers that might have been benedictions or curses as his unerring aim took down drone after drone. Now and then, one of them would cry out as they took hits, and Tali thought her heart would stop every time.

Suddenly, the sounds changed. The battle still raged outside, her teammates’ voices still came terse and clipped through her radio, but something else had gone quiet. It took her a few seconds before she realized that the whine in her ears was gone. Finally overwhelmed, her suit’s ventilation system had failed.

Heat pressed in on her from all sides. She gasped for breath, her entire body quickly becoming slick with sweat. If she didn’t hurry, her mask was going to fog up, and there would be no way for her to get the final door open. The team would die, the mission would be finished, and the Collectors would be free to scour the galaxy for anything the Reapers wanted.

By the time the last bulkhead released, her vision was starting to blur and her head was spinning. She stumbled into the chamber beyond, the temperature outside her suit reading much more normal, but her ventilation system still wouldn’t restart. Gritting her teeth, Tali forced her eyes to focus as she threw herself into hacking the door.

She couldn’t breathe. The air in her suit grew hotter and hotter, and seemed to get thinner as she worked. Had the oxygen failed as well? No time to think about that. She had to get this door open.

They were right there. Bullets slammed into the door from the other side. Shepard, Thane, and Garrus were pinned against it. Her head swam. If she didn't get this open, they were done for.

Finally, the lock gave. Tali scrambled back as the ground team backed into the room, followed by a hail of bullets. One pinged off Miranda's shields with enough force to knock her stumbling back, and the doors slid shut again.

That was it. They'd made it. Tali sank to the floor, her vision graying. It took a supreme effort of will not to pass out. Her blood felt thin as water, and she couldn't get enough air.

She was dying,  _ keelah,  _ she was dying. This was it. She was going to suffocate on her shorted-out suit.

But that was okay, actually. She'd done her part here. Shepard had made it perfectly clear from the start that this might be a one-way trip, and Tali had made her peace with that. She'd completed her mission. If this was the end, she was okay with that.

She closed her eyes as her ears began to ring. Her only regret was never laying eyes on the homeworld, as her father had promised her. But if her sacrifice made it possible for future generations of quarians to retake their home, that would be enough.

It was a few long moments before she realized she was breathing easier. The ringing in her ears wasn't suffocation-induced tinnitus, it was her ventilation kicking back on. Her suit cooled, and she drew deep, grateful breaths of good air. She lurched to her feet, blinking in astonishment. She'd survived.

All of a sudden, the mission seemed less hopeless. Less of a long shot. This might actually work.  _ Keelah...  _ it might just work.


End file.
